Seasoning Hamburgers


 
40 years ago I used to stop at the Hamburg Inn on Center Point Rd in Cedar Rapids Iowa usually about 2AM. There was an old lady who would put the fresh ground beef in her hands, form it into a ball between tennis ball and league ball size, and push the ball flat to about maybe 7/8 of an inch thick and on the grill it went. The Inn is long gone, and probably the old lady too, but I still make my burgers the same way at grillside, wearing disposable gloves. This makes frozen burgers taste like hockey pucks. Now top that burger with a scrambled egg and who needs condiments and seasonings?
 
I'm a plain jane burger kind of guy......using egg and breadcrumbs is too much like meatloaf or meatballs.......although I've never been known to turn one down if it's prepared that way.
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I use straight-up 80/20, lightly padded into half to three quarter pound patties. I top with Cavendar's (although garlic, salt and pepper will do just fine) and a dash of Worstershire. I cover with saran wrap and let em' get happy for a couple of hours.

I grill em' to medium (well for the little lady), top em' with kethup, mustard and pickles.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
I buy ground chuck, and if they dont have any I ask them to grind a chuck steak. Just salt, pepper and quality condiments for me.
Better than any burger you will get in a restaurant.

80/20 is good if you cant get the chuck.


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Take the meat out of the package and crumble it in a bowl. Add seasoning and using a folding technique lightly mix meat and seasoning. Then form into balls and smash out the patties.
 
I guess I'm lazy... I just use salt and pepper on the patties right before they go on the grill, and a small handful of pecan wood chips on the coals.
 
I'm almost as lazy as Larry D I guess. Salt, pepper and granulated garlic on both sides just before grilling. I agree with those above who said that a burger is one of their favorite grilled foods. Cheese, bacon, tomato and chili sauce on a warmed or toasted roll. Nice.
 
I always used to do burgers with store bought bround beef, onions, bread crumbs, egg and seasoning. They were good but, as Dwayne said, they're more like meat balls. Since then I've done quite a bit of experimenting, and now I always use rib eye, ground with a 3mm plate. I make the burgers with a Cusineart burger press, which I like because I can make burgers directly onto parchment paper and then flip them onto the grill. I also like using the press because I get uniform burgers which cook evenly, retain their moisture, and don't crumble apart on the grill. For seasoning I just use a little salt and pepper before they go on the grill.

-Mark.
 
Some general suggestions for making burgers that have worked for me:

1) Add a panade (mush of a little milk and white bread torn into pieces) to the meat. It will keep the meat moist as it's cooking, even if you like to cook your burgers past medium (shudder).
2) Buy lean meat (say 90/10) then add bacon fat to the mix. I generally buy Wright brand peppered bacon and drain off the grease into a mason jar that I store in the freezer. Adding the fat will give the meat an incredible bacon flavor throughout. This is a bonus and you may not choose to do this all the time.
3) 85/15 meat/fat ratio is probably ideal, but hard to find.
4) You can season the meat before grilling.
5) When you make the patties and you have a lot of meat, it pays to weigh each portion so that the burgers turn out even.
6) Make a depression in the center of the patty; the outside cooks up faster and will shrink faster than the center. If you start out with a flat patty, it will probably end up with a thick center and taper off toward the outside edge.
 
80/20, gently formed into a ball, then mashed into a patty. S&P plus some gran garlic and on to the grill. Simple, easy, and juicy at medium.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rory Braunstein:
80/20. Gently shape. Not too thick. Generous S&P both sides. Super hot cast iron. Lightly toasted bun. Pickles,ketchup and onions. Hot pepper slices optional. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yep, that's how I usually do mine....simple.
These were from last weekend:

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ooooooo....George, I like the Lodge CI Hibatchi. Looked at those for a long time and havent pulled the trigger yet. Any trouble with flame-ups on that bad boy?
 
Kenji over at the Burger Lab experimented with when and how to season burgers. The differences were MAJOR, and he posts pics to prove it.

His conclusion: do not mix salt into the patty. Season only the outside, and don't do that until right before the burgers hit the grill.

Salt will dissolve muscle proteins and turn your burgers from moist and tender to sausage-like and springy.

Here is a link to the salt experiment as well as a link to The Burger Lab's top 10 burger tips. Pretty good reading.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/arc...ing-ground-beef.html

http://aht.seriouseats.com/arc...-better-burgers.html
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris in Cameron Park:
For bacon burgers: Do you guys do anything special with the bacon? Or just fry it and put on top at the end? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I actually made up some 50/50 (50% ground beef/50% ground bacon) burgers last night for tonight's dinner. Going to grill them up when I get home. Will post my results.
 
I'll throw my method into the mix

1. Use a panade (2 slices of bread and 2 TBSP of milk per 3 lb of meat)
2. Season panade with garlic and onion powder but no salt before mixing with meat
3. Mix and form gently
4. Keep to around 1/3 lb or smaller
5. Indentation in the middle
6. Salt and pepper each patty before grilling
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris in Louisiana:
Kenji over at the Burger Lab experimented with when and how to season burgers. The differences were MAJOR, and he posts pics to prove it.

His conclusion: do not mix salt into the patty. Season only the outside, and don't do that until right before the burgers hit the grill.

Salt will dissolve muscle proteins and turn your burgers from moist and tender to sausage-like and springy.

Here is a link to the salt experiment as well as a link to The Burger Lab's top 10 burger tips. Pretty good reading.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/arc...ing-ground-beef.html

http://aht.seriouseats.com/arc...-better-burgers.html </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have mixed salt in with my ground meat before forming patties, and I have NEVER had a patty look as nasty as what he shows in his salted patties. That's just hard to believe...
 
50/50 burgers turned out pretty good. Recipe still needs some tweaking. I over cooked the burgers a touch (no pink left in the middle) but they were still most and flavorful.
 
This is an old thread. However, I thought I might mention my "simple and easy" hamburgers.

We use 80/20 ground beef (it's actually ground chuck). It is handled gently. I add nothing to the beef but prefer 1/3 lbs burgers with a depression in the center.

I grill to minimum recommended temperature for "medium" and get a tasty, juicy, burger. I cook on direct with a HOT fire. It runs about 4.0 minutes a side. I like cheese on my burgers and my preference is Maytag Blue Cheese. I am starting to use the two pattie method (two thin patties with cheese in between, then seal the edges with light pressure).


I season generously with McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides. I stumbled on this when it was first introduced. I went to the market to buy spices to make my own seasoning mix. They had a prominent display. I read the ingredients and they were EXACTLY what I was intending to buy separately. So, I thought "What the heck, might as well try it!"

I have used it ever since for steaks, chops, and burgers. I lay it on pretty heavy and really like the results.

FWIW
Dale53
 
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